A high polymorphism is found in the locus of goat αS1-casein gene and it is classified in four levels of expression, named high, medium, and low, associated with production of 3.6, 1.6, 0.6, and 0 g/L/allele, respectively. The study was conducted to investigate possible variations on milk yield and components, profile of casein, and lipolysis of fat. Forty-four goats were assigned to five distinct genotypes as two homozygous, one for high (AA) and the other for intermediate yield (EE); and three heterozygous named AE, AF, and EF for the αs1-casein. For lipolysis, milk was sampled in four aliquots which were treated soon after milking and 24 hours after cooling. Differences were observed for both casein yield and its fractions. No difference was found for other variables. The AA genotype presented the higher content of both casein (28.6g/L) and αS1-cn (22.3%). Other genotypes averaged 20.4g/L for casein content. Values of αS1-cn were 12.1% for heterozygous and 10.1 and 9.1% for both EE and EF genotype respectively. Cooling the milk for 24 hours increased the rate of lipolysis. Genotyping goats for the αS1-cn can be used as a tool for selecting animal targeting milk products with distinct profiles of proteins.
goat; milk constituent; casein; genotypes; lipolysis
